Flashing Yellow Lights Puzzle BMW Driver

By Bruce Wood

Palo Alto, CA – Forty-three-year-old BMW owner David Sharpe
returned his BMW M3 Coupe to his local dealer last week, complaining
of "these flashing yellow lights that come on whenever I move
the stick for the headlights up or down."

Another BMW driver not from Palo Alto
and not an M3 owner scratches his head over the flashing
yellow lights.

"So I got out of my car the other day and it looked like the
car alarm was going off. These yellow lights were flashing, but there
was no sound. Then I noticed the lights were only flashing on one
side. It was odd," explained Sharpe.

"It took me a while to figure it out, but I realized that I
must have brushed against the stick for the headlights as I got out
the car, because if I move the stick up, the yellow lights flash
on one side of the car, and if I move the stick down, they flash
on the other side of the car. What the heck is that about?" he
continued.

"Everything on this car is there for a reason right? The ABS
is there so I can brake quickly when the guy who's dumbly driving
just 10 feet in front of me slams on his brakes. The car alarm has
adjustable sensitivity, so I can get passing cars to set it off during
the night so I know the car hasn't been stolen. But these flashing
lights? What am I some sort of emergency vehicle?"

"Anyway I took my car back to the dealer last week so he could
fix it. The dealer told me that apparently it was some 'safety feature'
that BMW has to put in by law. He said he didn't get it either, but
BMW fit it as standard - it's not even an optional extra! He also
showed me another pointless 'safety feature' - if you pull the headlight
stick on a BMW toward you and then release it, it makes the lights
go less bright! I mean - what the heck - why would I want to be able
to see LESS of where I'm going?"